'The Americans' premiere review

In addition to already established series 'American Horror Story' and 'Justified', the FX network introduced their new 80's spy drama 'The Americans' on Wednesday night. Meant to re-enact the context of the Cold War, Keri Russell and Michael Rhys play Elizabeth and Philip Jennings, KGB spies posing as a suburban American couple. The series is written by Joe Weisberg, also the writer of TNT's 'Falling Skies', who happens to be a former CIA agent. Clearly such attention from the network was warranted in order to depict an authentic atmosphere of what FX general manager John Landgraff calls, "incredible performances rooted in character perspectives never explored on a U.S. television series".

The 97-minute pilot on Wednesday night brought viewers right into the complicated world of the Jennings. The first scene shows Elizabeth in a blonde wig performing sexual acts on a Department of Justice agent, unknowingly under her surveillance. What we instantly learn is the extreme sense of devotion this couple has to their cause and their country, so much that Philip can only show but a vague fragment of emotion when listening to his "wife" perform these acts on another man. Although both have been vigorously trained to be so toneless, their relationship will be a fascinating development for two key reasons: 1) Philip appears the more emotionally passive between the two, more concerned with trying to be as close to a real family as possible, while Elizabeth possesses more of a pure hatred toward America and devout bond to her country. And 2) the children. Their Russian identities are secrets from the children as well, who are biologically of Russian descent, just not to their knowledge. The continuous balance between covert Russian operatives and suburban parents of two children will surely create further dissonance and suspense.

Common criticism for 'The Americans' include the unavoidable risk factors of depicting such events on an American television network. Perhaps the most fascinating irony to me is that our main characters are Russian spies. Historically they would be perceived as antagonists, but in this context, they will likely arise as the protagonists we want to succeed. But for highly trained Russian spies during the Cold War, success would mean an ill fate for America. This dynamic, among others (like an FBI agent living across the street), will serve as intriguing developments to watch unfold for the next 12 episodes of this chilling debut season.